Interview: Josephine Sanges of THE FUNNY GIRL IN ME at Laurie Beechman Theatre

A song that was cut from the famous musical Funny Girl but released later on a Barbra Streisand collection informed people that "A fella loves to be with a funny girl." Josephine Sanges already knows that everyone loves a funny girl because the singing actress and musical cabaret storyteller has a long relationship with Fanny Brice and Funny Girl. Having played the real-life stage star from the first half of the last century, Sanges has done a deep dive into the life and artistry of the vaudevillian who rose to fame in the Ziegfeld Follies. Josephine has an encyclopedic knowledge about Brice, Streisand, and the plays and movies informed by both legendary ladies.

Now Josephine mixes that three-way fascination into one show, THE FUNNY GIRL IN ME: Josephine Sanges SINGS Fanny Brice. The brand-new club act will debut at The Laurie Beechman Theatre on May 6th, with a follow-up show on May 18th. Working alongside Musical Director John M. Cook and cabaret icon Jeff Harnar (whose directing work is beginning to rival his onstage work, time-wise, these days), Ms. Sanges is thrilled and excited about this next venture on her cabaret CV, and she was gracious enough to take some time out to chat with Broadway World Cabaret about Brice, Barbra, and the value of being a girl who just happens to be funny.

This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced with minor edits.

Josephine Sanges, welcome to Broadway World!

Hi Stephen! Thank you so much for inviting me to the table!

You are about to premiere a brand new show, your first one since the lockdown, and before we jump into that conversation, tell me: how are you and the family doing, post-pandemic? Did everyone enjoy the sleepover?

Hahaha! We all fared pretty well, relatively speaking, thank you for asking! I spent the time working on a show with my Chicago friend, Cindy Firing. We called the show "Carry On" and carry on, we did. Learning how to use Jam Kazam so we could put a show together long distance became a real creative lifeline for us at a time when we had no idea when or if the shutdown would ever end. We are doing the show in Chicago at Davenport's on June 2nd & 3rd and then here in NYC at Don't Tell Mama's on June 25th & 26th. My husband Joe who just retired from being a New York City school teacher had the biggest adjustment of all. And, I must say, having him home during the pandemic prepared me for his retirement like nothing else could. My daughter, Joanna, who recently graduated from the Boston Conservatory with an MFA in musical theatre, started teaching voice lessons online. As if the life of a young performer weren't hard enough already, now there was NO theater to audition for AT ALL. She has taken it all in stride, mostly. Please forgive this Mama Rose moment but, if there are any agents/casting directors out there who are reading this, I'VE GOT YOUR GIRL!! My son Chris met his girlfriend Stephanie online just before the pandemic and we couldn't officially meet her until they were dating for several months and, even then, only with masks on and only outdoors. And, Griffin, our dog was spoiled beyond spoiled. It's pretty safe to say, Griffin and Amazon made out the best in this whole ordeal.

Did you and Deborah Stone get to do your Beach Café show before the lockdown, or was that a Covid casualty?

Well, the interesting thing about that show was how quickly we put it together! The backstory is, Deb Stone had just performed at the Beach Café and was asked to do another show there. It was her idea to do a duo show and I was thrilled she thought to ask me to do it with her. We called it "Our Time" and, with the help of our music Director, John M. Cook, we put together three duets for the top, middle, and bottom of the show with each of us doing our own set in between. Lina Katroukis came in to quickly help us tie all the loose ends together. Unfortunately, the Beach Cafè is no longer booking shows which really is a sad pandemic casualty. Let's hope that changes somewhere down the line.

Any chance you two ladies will reprise the program in the new world?

Deborah Stone was a complete joy to work with and so, of course, I'd absolutely welcome the opportunity to do that again! If we do decide to revisit it though, I think we'd want to find some more ways to interact with each other on stage and maybe search a little deeper to find some more thematic material to make it a more complete cabaret offering.

So, now, let's talk about Fanny Brice. Your new show THE FUNNY GIRL IN ME is a very personal one, isn't it? Because you have played Fanny Brice on the theatrical stage.

Yes, it was in 1995 when I got to play the role of Fanny Brice in the Catholics Charities Diocesan Theatre Guild's production of Funny Girl. My intention was to do this show in 2020 as a 25th-anniversary celebration but, we all know how that turned out. I had dropped the idea during the pandemic but then when I saw that Funny Girl was finally making a comeback to the Broadway stage, it just seemed to me that the universe was trying to tell me something.

The memory of Fanny Brice has been kept alive all these years because of the musical Funny Girl. In order to play that part in that play, an actress has to have a relationship with the character Fanny Brice, the woman Fanny Brice, and the legend Barbra Streisand. Which of these three women came into your life first, and what was your experience with the women who followed?

Well, Barbra Streisand has been part of my musical diet for as long as I can remember. When Evergreen came out I would listen to it on the car radio, I'd challenge myself to hold that last note longer than Barbra could! Didn't everybody?! Now, there's a lesson in breath control! And yes, she kind of became a hero to girls like me who didn't anywhere near fit the pop star mold. I can't even imagine my record collection without all of her albums in it.

Back in 1995, when I took on the role of Fanny Brice, I was a new mother with two kids under the age of three and so, I was pretty reluctant to go out for the part at all. The Director, Msgr. Joseph Funaro called me out of the blue after he saw me sing at a few big Diocesan events. I was pretty naive about what I was getting myself into, I mean I had NO idea how big a part it was, and, doing "my homework" to study for the part meant going to the library and taking out the only three books that existed about Fanny Brice. I honestly didn't know much about the show, (Yes, I lived in a hole!) and so, I borrowed my friend's record album and fell in love. For me, doing that part was just as much about trying to capture the spirit of Barbra's performance as it was about finding some reflection of myself in the character of Fanny Brice. Ironically, I've read that Barbara Streisand did not study Fanny Brice at all in order to prepare for the role because she didn't want to be an imitation of her. She felt that she was hired to do the part because they saw something that she and Fanny organically had in common and that was enough. I admire her courage.

Fast forward to today, I've now got the huge benefit of the Internet where I can see and hear Fanny's own performances and read articles about her. In fact, I recently found an article written by Fanny Brice in the archives of the November 21st edition of the Saturday Evening Post entitled, "The Feel of the Audience'' where she writes about her experiences on the stage and how she learned to "read" her audiences. Her insights are every bit as relevant to today's performers as they were a hundred years ago. What a gift! I just can't get enough of Fanny's spirit, drive, and honesty. It's truly something to marvel at and aspire to.

Now, as you prepare to bring Fanny Brice, Funny Girl, and Funny Lady to the nightclub stage, how do you layer in Josephine Sanges for the all-important aspect of intimacy in a cabaret setting?

Well, I can speak first hand what it was like to play that role and I can hopefully bring some wisdom to the experience that has come with the passing of time. In the process, it has been interesting to discover how some things never change. Core issues never go away. I guess the difference is all in how I navigate those issues today. Hopefully, I'm finding ways to navigate them with a little more grace and self-awareness.

Speaking of the intimacy of cabaret, Fanny Brice and Barbra Streisand are larger-than-life women who worked small rooms at one time or another - what is the secret to being a bold actress tasked with playing a cozy venue?

I don't really have any great secret to share. I can completely relate to the stage fright that Barbra has often spoken about through the years. It's far easier to sing in a large venue than it is to sing in a small one. My wonderful and very wise Director, Jeff Harnar, has been trying to instill in me that I'm "enough," that I should let go of my "worry" and trust myself. John Cook, my brilliant Music Director, and dear friend has been there every step of the way in putting this show together. So often he generously plays the role of counselor and therapist to boot. Luckily, my audience members are also my friends and so, I can hope and trust they will be kinder to me than I am to myself.

What is the biggest misconception that people have about the real Fanny Brice, the thing that you really wish people would know about the woman that really lived?

Fanny was no pushover, nor was she any man's doormat. She lived exactly as she wanted to and she had absolutely no regrets. She was every bit as smart as she was funny.

Josephine, have you always been a funny girl?

Hahahaha! Well, my husband has always been the jokester of the family, you know, that guy who tells funny stories and jokes at a party. I'm the quiet one who comes out of nowhere with a zinger when absolutely necessary. People tell me I can be very funny. Maybe I am?

Thank you so much for chatting with us today, and have a great time reliving your Funny days.

Thank you!!

Josephine Sanges will play THE FUNNY GIRL IN ME: Josephine Sanges SINGS Fanny Brice on May 6th and 18th. For information and reservations visit the Laurie Beechman Theatre website HERE.

Josephine Sanges has a website HERE.

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